The bright sun awakes you from your slumber. You push yourself off the concrete sidewalk and sit up and look at your surroundings. Another day has begun on the streets of Santa Cruz. You dust off your dirty, torn clothes and
sit back as you pull out your cup and poster and began to [[beg for money]].
pack up your stuff in your cart and [[get going without money]].You sit back and lean against the vacant storefront whos sidewalk you call home. You wave your cup at countless zombies that pass you by. Most completely ignore you but a few toss in some change. You look down into your cup and count around $5 and you decide to
[[keep begging]].
call it quits and [[go into Ferrell's Donut Shop|go into Ferrells Donut Shop with 5]].You decide to try your luck and keep begging. Thank goodness you did, because a woman with a designer bag and large black shades smiles and drops a twenty in the cup. You say your thanks and
[[continue to beg]].
get up and [[go into Ferrell's Donut Shop|go into Ferrells Donut Shop w money]].You don't have much luck in the next half an hour, but your buddy Dave stumbles over and plops down next you. You both catch up and he complains about how he hasn't had a full meal in days and he's about to run out of his meds and doesn't know what to do. Sorry you can't be more help, you give him a twenty for food so he won't go hungry. He says his thanks and you decide to call it a day and
pack up your stuff in your cart and [[go into Ferrell's Donut Shop|go into Ferrells Donut Shop w money]].You head out towards the homeless camp to go and see a few of your buddies. You try to stay out of everyones way and observe how they actively avoid you. Your stomach begins to grumble. You notice a trash can outside the Santa Cruz Diner and you're sure there are some sort of scraps in there. You decide to
[[dig through trash]].
[[sit down and beg for money]].You order a donut and a coffee. The total comes out to a little more than $5 but the server lets it slide. You decide to take the food to-go and [[continue on]].You decide to splurge and get yourself two donuts and a hot coffee to keep you going. The server smiles and offers some small talk. Happy to be acknowledged as a normal person, you smile back and confidently hand him the cash, even dropping a dollar in the tip jar, you pocket the remaining money. As you go to sit down with your food you notice some unfamiliar faces come in. They are loud and intoxicated and began to make a scene. You yell at them to leave the server alone. The manager comes out and begans to kick them out. As he pushes them out the door with threats of calling the cops, his eyes lock on you and he yells at you to get out too, grouping you with the others. You
[[begin to argue]], defending yourself, saying you have nothing to do with them. Just because you are homeless does not mean you will cause trouble.
[[get going|get going w rest of money]], you know you didn't do anything wrong but you don't want to get caught up in any drama. You quickly exit.You try to explain the situation but the manager isn't having it. The server tries to defend you but its not getting through. Defeated, you leave, cursing under your breath. As you get outside, you notice the people who caused a scene, and they notice you too. They surround you and you have no choice but to cough up the rest of your money so they'll leave you alone.
[[continue on]].As you exit Ferells head down, you hear someone yelling for you. You turn and see the server with a box of donuts. He apologizes for the manager and thanks you for defending him. Grinning widely, you say your thanks and
head out [[towards the homeless camp]] to share your goods.
put the box of donuts in your cart and [[continue on]]. You arrive at the homeless camp, donuts in hand, and began to say hi to all the familiar faces. Their eyes widen and they smile as you hand them a donut. You go over to your buddy Maria and say hi to her and her two kids, offering up the remaining donuts. The kids run up and give you high fives, you notice their slender figures but they continue to run around. You and Maria converse and she catches you up on her rough week. You take another look at the scrawny kids and decide to
[[hand over the rest of your money]], they need it more than you.
[[say goodbye]] and continue on. You feel sorry but you don't have much to spare and you need to survive.It's midday now and you decide to venture downtown. The day is wearing on you and you cart is starting to become a burden, and you know its going to be tough to bring it with you. You decide to
[[leave your cart]] in a hidden spot and hope your stuff is still there by the end of the day.
[[carry on with cart]], you don't want to risk losing your stuff.You begin to dig through the garbage, looking for any salvagable food. you find a half-eaten burger near the bottom of the bin partially wrapped and begin to reach for it until suddenly you hear yelling directed at you. Startled,
you grab your things and hurrily walk away, trying to get out of there as quickly as possible. You leave the burger and [[continue on]].
you [[continue to reach for the burger]] as you are desperate as the yelling gets closer and louder.You wave your cup at countless zombies that pass you by. Most completely ignore you but a few toss in some change. You look down into your cup and count around $5 and you decide to
[[go into Ferrell's Donut Shop|go into Ferrells Donut Shop with 5]], carbs and hot coffee will fill you up.You turn around, half-eaten burger in hand, and are face to face with a Santa Cruz Diner server. You brace yourself to be yelled at and began to move away from the situation. He tells you to stop and leave the burger, and instead hands you a bag of fresh food. He tells you they are left overs and he returns back inside. Extremely thankful, you eat the fresh burger and fries and
[[continue on]]Maria gives you a warm embrace and thanks you repeatedly. She promises to pay you back but you shrug off the offer, say your goodbyes to the kids, and [[continue on]].You continue on through the camp, acknowledging the people you recognize. Right as you're leaving, you feel a hand on your shoulder and you are pulled back to face one of the people who caused a scene at Ferrell's. They keep a firm grip on your shoulder and incoherently begin to threaten you, waving a dull knife in your direction with their free hand. Fearful, you pull out the rest of your money and immediately hand it over, swearing it's all you have. The man grabs your money and pushes you away, yelling words that sound like profanities. Free from his grip you run away and
[[continue on]].You continue downtown and decide to try your luck with
[[busking]].
[[begging]].You lug the cart downtown, maneuvering through the people you pass. You cart hits a bump and a wheel breaks off. There's no way you can carry it, its way too heavy. You have no choice but to leave it in the corner of the busy street. You cover it with a tarp to make it more inconspicuous. You grab what you can carry on your back and
[[tredge forward]].You run into your buddy Dave and he tells you about a job that he's trying to get. He encourages you to try and get the gig too, but he says you need clean yourself up first, maybe get a suit and some nice shoes. After mulling it over for a minute, you decide to
[[ignore his suggestion]] and keep walking. You feel like there's no way they'd hire a homeless person, why try?
[[try and beg|begging]] for more money in order to get some new attire.
You post up on the street and set your cup and sign in front of you. You pull out your harmonica and start playing what you know. A few passersby drop some dollars in your cup. You
[[keep playing]], more money can't hurt.
stop and [[keep walking|tredge forward]].You sit on a busy street and set your cup in front of you. After an hour or so, you manage to get around $15.
[[go to Goodwill]].The sun starts to set and you decide it's time to go grab your cart and [[head back to camp]].$15 in hand you try to find some business casual wear to replace your dirty rags. Then maybe you could apply for that job your buddy was talking about. You manage to find something that would work and
[[head out to find Dave]] so you can ask about the job.
[[head to a public restroom]] to clean yourself up.You go back to where you saw Dave last but you can't seem to locate him. However, you find a new bigger cart and decide it is time for an upgrade.
take the cart and [[continue look for Dave]].
go to where you [[left your old cart]] so you can switch them out.You tidy up and get ready to [[look for Dave]].You decide to give up your search and leave it for another day. You [[head back to camp]].Thankfully, your stuff is just as you left it and you transfer your stuff over to your new cart. You go and [[look for Dave]].You have no luck so you go to where you [[left your old cart]] so you can switch them out.The sun sets and darkness fills the sky. You decide it's time to call it a night. You wonder how much longer you will be able to survive on the streets. The thoughts keep you up for a while, but eventually you fall asleep, wondering what the next day will bring. You play for another hour but have little luck. Guess your harmonica playing is not as nice as you thought. The sun starts to set and you decide it's time to go grab your cart and [[head back to camp]].